Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Making a meal of it

My little helper in the kitchen, Bill.

A friend recently asked me in the park if I planned our meals and I started a rant, which was basically this:

I love meal planning. I don't spend a lot of time or thought doing it, usually just a few quick calculations in my head when shopping. It gives me structure, makes life so easy and best of all it makes me so darn happy. Who knew?

I only started doing it fairly recently. I love knowing what we're going to have for dinner any given night, having all the ingredients ready to go, no last minute dash to the shops, no racking my brains to think 'what will we eat tonight?'. Relieving that tiny bit of stress has transformed my stay-at-home mum life. Skip loves it too, he knows not to have a chicken sanga if we're having chicken for dinner.

We eat as a family most nights – it's a great way to share time together (as we don't get a lot of family time), a good way for the kids to develop their palates and we enjoy it (mostly). So being prepared is essential. I'm not a sensational cook, but I know my way around a kitchen and I find it really satisfying to make healthy, yummy meals for the fam. I'm still surprised that I'm writing those words as I've never thought I would, Skip used to be the chef in our house. I must confess that Bill Granger helps me out with most of my meals; his light, tasty meals always turn out as they should. It's real Sydney food. Hearing him speak annoys me intensely but he can sure write a recipe.

I love reading PPMJ's weekly meal plan, in fact she's the one who inspired me to do my own. PPMJ's meal plan always has my mouth watering and my plan is never as gourmet as hers!

Yes, always! am far too disorganised to have things in the pantry, ready for anything I may want to whip up. I have to buy specifically or I'll end up making toast. I pick a cookbook or recipe site a week and choose 3-4 recipes from it and write a list. Plus it helps cut down on wasted food :)